Weekly Contest Winners - December 23, 2019!

Happy Monday, everyone! We have three clear winners this week: ddavidd writes of the heaviness and almost nostalgia of the changing of the seasons and the weight of them. Are the seasons trapping him, not letting him fully process everything? There's a depth in this and almost a bittersweet tone I feel, with him mentioning "burdens" twice. Next, Noura writes a personal and striking piece of her home country, knowing in time, perhaps there will be better memories to look back upon but also fighting to find strength during these times. I found hope in this, that cruelty and death will not always be the first thought when waking, that there will be other things to hold on to. Last but not least is Daniel's tribute to Liverpool, as he poses questions to reminisce this lost love and reveal the city's history and personality. Beautiful work this week. Congrats to the winners and HM's! Many thanks to our judges as well.

Happy Holidays to anyone who celebrates, and I hope you all have a fantastic week :)

- MA

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WINNERS:

"Ceaseless Seasons" by: ddavidd = 17 points

"Some two thousand twenty's resolutions" by: nourayasmine = 10 points

"Liverpool" by: Daniel = 10 points

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COMMENTS:

"Ceaseless Seasons" by: ddavidd

"I love how the poem is formatted in 4 parts; like the four seasons. The transition from the title to part 1 of the poem, which says that the seasons are heavy. Kind of set me to believe that the seasons here is the mindset, mentality, psychological well being of a person. A person goes through their life, experiencing so many things. Part 3 had kept dragging me, like a person is goin into depression and moving out of it in part 4. Or even any kind of hardship in life.

One interesting thing is the use of autumn in part 1, and Fall in part 2. They could be synonyms, or it could even mean the fall of someone. Which also brings me back to the idea of a hardship which starts in part 3.

Anyway, this is very thought provoking. And can be interpreted in so many ways." (10)

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"I really liked the way this piece told a story. It's a story of his life and how these endless seasons, and each passing year of his life have weighed on him and enriched him too. His visuals were lovely and he ponders his life, both past and future. A thoughtful insightful write." (7)

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"Some two thousand twenty's resolutions" by: nourayasmine

"To live in a war torn country all your life, seeing the unspeakable, enduring the losses can cause one to become numb to everyday life. Noura speaks from her heart, she speaks of hope, she speaks of this won't be forever and there is going to be a future ,where the country she knows and loves will one day bloom back to life. I love her resolutions and pray there will be peace again soon." (10)

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"Liverpool" by: Daniel

"I love this piece, made me feel like I was there, but it also captioned the sadness of a lost love perhaps. The wording captions the spirit of the poem. Just wonderful." (10)

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HM's:

"bread & salt." by hiraeth = 7 points

"Selene" by: Aegis = 7 points

"Deliverance" by: Megan Chapman = 4 points

"Graceful Murmur" by: ADEL = 4 points

"Should Have" by: Ben Pickard = 4 points

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COMMENTS

"bread & salt." by hiraeth

"What I love about this poem, is that it could be taken with it literal meaning, or it could be deeper. The dough could be interpreted as a relationship that the poet was hoping to go smoothly but the “stand mixer broke”. So it had a rough start. However, it continued being “hard”, even though both of them tried to make softer and it even did not rise. In the end the two ended up working together, and the relationship comes together." (7)

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"Selene" by: Aegis

"Meeting a woman in the darkness kissing her in darkness... just a rich poem here, also made me think the woman is actually the moon herself. Lovely!!!" (7)

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"Deliverance" by: Megan Chapman

"Megan writes of grief and trying to continue to move forward. When we have suffered a loss it's easy to stay in that dark place. Megan has been really working on staying out of that space and using the tools given to her by taking a new road, a different road. One that hasn't been filled with grief. It's scary redirecting to an unknown path, but she knows the only way to deliverance is to do so. I'm so sorry for your loss Megan, thank you for sharing such a personal piece." (4)

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"Graceful Murmur" by: ADEL

"The title is sooo unique and captivating!! Because the poem has a beautiful rhythm and rhyme, it felt like a sad song that many of us could relate to. I really enjoyed this heartfelt piece!" (4)

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"Should Have" by: Ben Pickard

"The nature tones in each line, mixed with a lost love is golden and priceless.. Beautiful!!" (4)

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! Beautiful writing all around! I hope everyone has a lovely holiday season! Thank you Mary Anne for hosting and our judges for making the tough choices.

Congrats Noura, Ddavid on their poems! Thank you too, to the judge for the thoughtful comment and Mark for the nomination. :)

Hope you all have a great week!

Wonderful wins this week - some truly skilled writing gracing the front page.
Thank you to the judges for their time and for my comment and merry xmas, one and all.